"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
Edmund Burke. What happened on this Day in History?

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

This Day in History: Oct 1, 1946: Nazi war criminals sentenced at Nuremberg

On October 1, 1946, 12 high-ranking Nazis
are sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in
Nuremberg. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von
Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder
of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick,
minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted.

The trial, which had lasted nearly 10 months, was conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States,
the USSR, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind
in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes
against peace to crimes of war and crimes against humanity. On October
16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged one by one. Hermann
Goering, who at sentencing was called the "leading war aggressor and
creator of the oppressive program against the Jews," committed suicide
by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia; he is now known to have died in Berlin at the end of the war.

Popular radio commentator; head of the news division of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry.[avalon 6] Released early in 1950.[28] Fritzsche had made himself a career within German radio, because his voice was similar to Goebbels'.[29]

Reichsmarschall, Commander of the Luftwaffe 1935–45, Chief of the 4-Year Plan 1936–45, and original head of the Gestapo before turning it over to the SS
in April 1934. Originally the second-highest-ranked member of the Nazi
Party and Hitler's designated successor, he fell out of favor with
Hitler in April 1945. Highest ranking Nazi official to be tried at
Nuremberg. [30] Committed suicide the night before his execution.[avalon 8]

Hitler's Deputy Führer until he flew to Scotland in 1941 in an
attempt to broker peace with Great Britain. Had been imprisoned since
then. After trial, incarcerated at Spandau Prison where he allegedly committed suicide in 1987.[avalon 9]

WehrmachtGeneraloberst,
Keitel's subordinate and Chief of the OKW's Operations Division
1938–45. Signed orders for the summary execution of Allied commandos and
Soviet commissars [avalon 10] Signed the instruments of unconditional surrender on 7 May 1945 in Reims as the representative of Karl Dönitz. Posthumously rehabilitated in 1953.

Highest-ranking SS leader to be tried at Nuremberg. Chief of RSHA
1943–45, the Nazi organ comprised of the intelligence service (SD),
Secret State Police (Gestapo), Criminal Police (Kripo) and had overall
command over the Einsatzgruppen.[avalon 11]

Head of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) and def facto defence minister 1938–45. Known for his unquestioning loyalty to Hitler.[31] Signed numerous orders calling for soldiers and political prisoners to be executed. Expressed repentance.[avalon 12]

Major industrialist. C.E.O. of Friedrich Krupp AG 1912–45. Medically unfit for trial; he had been partially paralyzed since 1941. Due to an error, Gustav, instead of his son Alfried (who ran Krupp for his father during most of the war), was selected for indictment.[32]
The prosecutors attempted to substitute his son in the indictment, but
the judges rejected this due to proximity to trial. However, the charges
against him remained on record in the event he should recover (he died
in February 1950).[33] Alfried was tried in a separate Nuremberg trial (the Krupp Trial) for slave labor, thereby escaping worse charges and possible execution.

Minister of Foreign Affairs 1932–38, succeeded by Ribbentrop. Later, Protector of Bohemia and Moravia 1939–43. On furlough since 1941, he resigned in 1943 because of a dispute with Hitler. Released (ill health) 6 November 1954[avalon 13] after suffering a heart attack. Died 14 August 1956.

Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and Vice-Chancellor under Hitler in 1933–34. Ambassador to Austria 1934–38 and ambassador to Turkey
1939–44. Although acquitted at Nuremberg, von Papen was reclassified as
a war criminal in 1947 by a German de-Nazification court, and sentenced
to eight years' hard labour. He was acquitted following appeal after
serving two years.[avalon 14]

Prominent banker and economist. Pre-war president of the Reichsbank 1923–30 & 1933–38 and Economics Minister 1934–37. Admitted to violating the Treaty of Versailles.[avalon 19]
Many at Nuremberg alleged that the British had brought about Schacht's
acquittal to safeguard German industrialists and financiers; Francis Biddle revealed Geoffrey Lawrence had argued that Schacht, being a "man of character", was nothing like the other "ruffians" on trial.[34] By 1944, he had been imprisoned in a KZ by the Nazis, and was not pleased to be put to trial as a major war criminal.[35]

Hitler's friend, favorite architect, and Minister of Armaments from
1942 until the end of the war. In this capacity, he was ultimately
responsible for the use of slave laborers from the occupied territories
in armaments production. Expressed repentance.[avalon 22]